Letters to the editor for Sunday, March 10
Letters to the editor for Sunday, March 10

Mail it in

To our seasonal and yearly residents,

Millions of Americans live from one day to the next uncertain where their next meal will come from—a sad statistic that helps to reinforce the importance of our annual national Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive, to be held this year on Saturday, May 11.

Security clearances: March 2, 2019(Photo: Adam Zyglis)

Letter carriers see many of these folks along our routes each day. Our food drive can make a positive difference in the lives of those who have been dealt difficult circumstances in their life.

This year marks the 27th year of the national drive. Our work and our success will be more crucial this year as ever with all the challenges the American people have faced. The problem of hunger in this country shows little sign of going away. Since the nation’s largest single-day food drive began in 1993, letter carriers—ably assisted by untold thousands of family members, friends and other volunteers—have collected more than 1.5 billion pounds of non-perishable food left by customers’ mailboxes and delivered to local food banks in more than 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states. Locally, Collier Harvest and letter carriers will be collecting food on May 11. You can play a major role if your leaving to go back home prior to that date please leave your food at the box for your letter carrier or you can drop it off at the Post Office. Those who wish to help in a bigger way with donations of any sort or local markets who would like to kick start the drive with a few thousands cans of food please contact Collier Harvest at 239-455-3663.

Al Micieli, President National Association of Letter Carriers

Lesson of history

If we have learned anything from history, it is that a balanced approach is what wins out in the long run. This applies to most of the important things in life. We can see how this applies to the question of what’s better capitalism or socialism. Neither system is the answer in its purist form. We currently live in a blended system that’s been shaped by our nation’s changing needs and our knowledge on how to make things better for the entire country, not just a few. So, as we address our biggest problems let’s remember to think about the best way to handle them and not think that there is some answer that can be easily labeled.

George Joeckel, Bonita Springs

Eat less chicken

It was 19 years ago this month that my 17-year-old cat was hit and killed by a car. I will never forget how devastated I was that day. I also will never forget the story I saw in the news that same day of a little girl named Jessica Rodriguez, who got kidnapped. I couldn't even begin to imagine what her mother was going through.

Fortunately, a couple of days later the little girl was released and I remember her mother saying her daughter had a pet chicken named Chicken Little and he hadn't been the same since her disappearance. But, as soon as he saw her walk through the door, he started to dance around. He went from being depressed to being filled with joy.

I remember saying to myself, "I need to stop eating chicken."

Sadly, I continued eating chickens, cows, and pigs for another eight years. It took me seven more years before finalIy becoming vegan in 2015. I just wish I had someone tell me back then that I didn't need to eat animals to be healthy and to look into the endless vegan recipes to replace the ones that call for feeling, thinking, emotional beings to be harm and killed.

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Trump U. grads

There are several Trump University grads that constantly attack honest opinions from subscribers with their “alternative facts” and then hypocritically accuse their targets of “misleading.” Case in point, last December Bud Ruff wrote about a declining stock market, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Forbes wrote articles on this. The Dow dropped 6 percent in 2018 and had its worst year since 2008. In January of 2018 the market hit 26,600 and in December of 2018 it was at 23,400 and this is what Mr. Ruff wrote about, as of March 2019 the Dow is still struggling to break 26,000. In February of 2019 Mark Needham and Floyd Smith wrote in using some form of voodoo economics to prove the business publications wrong. A recently published USA Today article on Dow performance under all U.S. presidents stated the second-best performance under Clinton, fourth best under Obama. Currently Trump is 12th and falling as time passes. I suggest Needham and Smith look at a 10-year chart of the Dow, maybe they lacked visuals at Trump U.
Now there are new attacks on people that say the economy is not going well and simply point out we did not get the 3 to 4 percent growth Trump promised from the tax cut and instead got the same old 2.6-2.9 percent growth that Obama got in 2015 without a giant tax cut added to the deficit. Growth for next year is projected to slide close to the 2 percent range, trade deficits have reached all-time highs, NAFTA was simply renamed, the deficit has skyrocketed, and the tax cut benefits are questionable.

Robert Martin, Naples

Ray of hope

Ray Christman will provide a strong independent voice on Naples City Council in the spirit of Linda Penniman, who has endorsed Ray. Experienced in successful city planning, Ray Christman will bring perspective to more effectively balance commercial interests and those of the residents. He led Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority that transformed the city’s economic base, restored residents' pride and their strong identification with the city's values. Ray understands our city's value, our small-town feel, and will defend them always.

There is a lot of campaign talk these days about the challenges to our environmental ecosystem. Voters should know that years before entering this campaign, Ray was a conservation leader as the Florida State Director for The Trust for Public Lands. He has publicly called for accelerated implementation of the City's stormwater infrastructure master plan. Ray will be vigilant in limiting dense redevelopment and their impervious surfaces that threaten our water quality. There is a cause and effect here and some new thinking is needed on City Council to break this cycle. Ray Christman will be that voice.

He is a proven leader, a man of action, an independent voice for the residents,

Please don't forget to vote.

Peter Vetowich, Naples

Abortion alternative

I have been waiting for a letter from the pro-choice community in response to the many pro-life letters. I'm not sure Lisa followed the advice she demanded by "doing a better job of fact checking." Lisa states that abortions late in pregnancy are often the result of tragic fetal diagnosis. Of the millions of abortions, how many are in this category? Lisa appears to have the common attitude that pro-lifers love those with an unwanted pregnancy less than the pro-choice people. God knows this is not true. Pro-life advocates are all about protecting the life of the unborn. Can one assume that an unwanted pregnancy is usually the result of a poor choice at the time of conception? Adoption is another choice but because of the alarming rate of abortions it is extremely difficult to adopt an American-born baby even if the couple can afford the cost.

Many people who considered adoption are grateful they made the choice to raise the child and experience the joys of the journey and the comfort they received from the child in retirement. Some pro-choice advocates ignore the fact that pro-lifers demonstrate their love for unwed mothers through local and national agencies that provide emotional and financial support for those in need. Many of those who grieve a decision to abort join groups that encourage acceptance of God's willingness to forgive.

Donald Enright, Naples

Who's a socialist?

Fascinating letter from Chuck Bainbridge in today’s paper. He discusses socialism vs. capitalism, not understanding why there is a debate on the matter since socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried. “Quick, can you name one instance where socialism has worked, improving the lives of its citizens? (Scandinavia is not the answer; look it up.)” So, Scandinavia is not a socialist set of countries. He is correct.

Sweden for instance is a constitutional monarchy, with parliamentary democracy. They are not socialist. Yet they manage to have:

Their health care, including dental care and elder care, paid by taxes. In 2016, health and medical care represented 11 percent of Sweden’s GDP. By the way, in the US it was 17.9 percent of GDP in 2017. I wonder which is better?

Last year US News and World Report published a study on the top 10 countries for raising children. Researchers looked at the following: care for human rights, family-friendly, gender equality, happiness, income equality, level of safety, well-developed public education system and well-developed health care system. Sweden rated second (Scandinavian countries were rated 1 through 4.) The US did not make the list.

Higher education is free.

More than half their energy use comes from renewable sources. Few countries consume more energy per capita than Sweden, but Swedish carbon emissions are low.

Five weeks paid holiday

The above are principles that many in our country are espousing, yet they are being called socialists. I think what we have is a semantic problem. So why don’t we all stop calling people socialists until we know what that means.